Our History

The history of Day & Carter Mortuary of Bedford, Indiana dates back to 1889 when Fred Benzel and August Splitgerber established a furniture and undertaking business.  

In 1892, the business was moved from its original location on 15th street to the public square and was taken over by new owners, Mr. Hodge and Mr. Walter Day. In 1898, Walter Day and J.F. Hamer began operating as Hamer & Day.

In 1922, Mr. Day purchased Mr. Hamer’s interest and ran the business alone, employing Mr. Arch Carter and Mr. Albert Lovell. Eventually, Mr. Carter bought a half interest, and during this time, the location was moved to 14th street (the building that currently houses the office of W.F. Myers manufacturing). The present name, Day & Carter Mortuary, was established at that time.

In 1936, George Roach, the owner of another mortuary, purchased the residence known as Elmwood from the heirs of the late Edmund Thornton and this location became the Elmwood Chapel of the Roach Mortuary. According to the Thornton family heirs, Mr. Thornton’s father; the late George Thornton had the home built at 12th and Lincoln in 1858. In 1870 the property acquired the Elmwood name due to the five large Elms that stood about the residence. Shortly after moving into the Elmwood location, Arch Carter and George Roach merged their funeral businesses together and it became the Elmwood Chapel of Day-Carter & Roach Mortuary. A few years later Mr. Carter purchased the shares from the Roach Family changing the name to Day & Carter Mortuary.

Mr. Kenneth Plummer Sr. and Mr. Morrell Turner began a lifelong association with the organization back in the 1930’s and eventually gained control of ownership at the death of Mr. Arch Carter in 1949. Mr. Plummer, Sr. and Mr. Morrell Turner were active in the business until both of their deaths in 1987.

It was at this time that second-generation funeral directors, Mr. John Owens and Mr. Kenneth Plummer Jr., who joined the firm in 1947 and 1951 respectively, acquired total ownership of the firm. In April of 1997, to continue a succession plan for the company and in keeping with tradition of local ownership, Mr. Owens and Mr. Plummer, Jr. sold shares of stock to company manager, Brian Pace. Mr. John Owens died in April of 1998 but had remained active in business decisions up until his death.

In 2006, with more the 55 years in the funeral business, Kenneth Plummer Jr. resigned as company President and sold his shares to the corporation. At that time Brian Pace became President and sole owner of the mortuary. Mr. Plummer passed away on January 7th, 2011.

In January of 2025, Brian Pace, funeral director, owner and president, retired after more than 42 years of being involved in funeral service and more than 35 years of service at Day & Carter. He transferred ownership of the funeral home to Family Transition Partners, a small, privately owned funeral provider. In protecting the legacy of Day & Carter and promoting a team of local ownership, Family Transition Partners announced that long time funeral directors, W. Matt Taylor, Brooke Horner Hayes and Joe Haworth would share co-ownership and co-management of the firm. 

Today, while all of us at Day & Carter Mortuary are proud of our heritage, we continue to move forward in offering our families the very finest in services and facilities.

<< BACK